Metallic container



Dec. 18, M A E METALLIC CONTAINER Filed Aug. 27, 1950 n T M5? M y 6 M w w .L 5 Y B Patented Dec. 18, 1934 1,984,931

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Louis M. La Duke, Jackson .Mich., as'signor .te

Potter Manufacturing Company, Jackson, Mich. I

Application August 27, 1930, Serial No. 177,999

Claims. 7 (Cl. 190-28)" This invention relates to'metallic containers, cerns itself principally with means for insuring a being particularly adapted to containers? of the tight seal between the lid and body of a trunk trunk type suchas are secured to automobiles, when the lid is closed and secured and in this usually at the rear thereof; although it will readrespect it will be found to be an improvement upon 5 ily be seen that it might equally well be used my previous invention for which an application 5 upon containers of many other types. a for patent was filed in the United States Patent An important object of my invention is the Oflice, and which resulted in the issuance of Letprovision of such a trunk orother containerhavters Patent numbered 1,767,143,0n June 24, 1930. ing a lid which may easily be openedand closed A stillfurther object of this invention is the 10 in the usual manner, but which when closed will incorporation therein of a hinge of improved 10 be moisture and dust proof, being tightly sealed design. a v at all points of juncture of the lid and body. Other objects and advantages will be apparent When a trunk of the typementioned is to be from the following disclosure wherein reference used upon an automobile, it is of course important is made to the accompanying drawing illustrating that seepage into it of moisture'or dust beprea preferred embodiment of my invention, and 5 vented as effectively as possible. In the past one wherein similar reference numerals designate of the principal sources of trouble in such trunks similar parts throughout the several views. has been the difliculty of tightly sealing the meet: In the drawing: a ing edges of lid and body at the hinges, or along a Figure '1 is a vertical cross sectional view the hinged side; for most such trunks have hinged through a metallic automobile trunk embodying 20 lids. From standpoints of ruggedness, economy my invention, showing the lid closed and latched. of production and ease of assembly, long piano Figure 2 is an enlarged detail sectional view hinges have usually been preferred for. such purof the improved means I employ to seal the meetpose b ut'these obviously are especially difficult ing edges of the body and lid of the trunk other to seal in such fashion that whenth'e'trunk is than the hinged edge, showing adjoining frag- 5 closed, seepage through the many sliding joints menta'ry portions of the lid and body in closed and around the hinge pin will be prevented when relation, but not tightly drawn together. the car carrying it is traversing 'adusty road, or Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, but being washed with a hose, or in adrivin'g rain. showing the meeting edges tightly drawn toso It is therefore also an important'object of my gether, as by a lever latch.

invention to provide such a containerin which a Figure 4 is an enlarged detail sectional view longhinge maybe used if desired, butlin which of my 'improved hinge construction and assothe possibility'of seepage through .thehinge and ciated sealing means for thatedge of the trunk, hinged edges will be prevented by th'eir' unique showing also'a portion of the lid to which they configuration, and by the embodiment in protecare attached, as ready for, but not yet attached 35 tive relation thereto of a tight and efiective seal. to, the body of the trunk.

' Another object of my invention is the provision Figure 5 is a detail sectional view of the upper of such a seal along the hinged edge of a conedgeof the side of the body of the trunk to which tainer of thistype, wherein any Water or other th lid is to be hinged, being shown in such 40 fiowable matter which partially makes its way positional relation with respect to the lid and its 40 into the space adjoining thehinge will be drained associated parts as shown in Figure 4 that it is away outs d t nta ner under the natural inready for attachment-of the latter thereto by a fiuence of gravity. mere downward movement of the lid portions.

It isalso an object of this invention to provide Figure 6 is a' perspective view showing fragmeans for tightly and effectively sealing all of mentarily the hinged edges] of the body and lid 45 the other meeting edges of the lid and body of of the trunk in assembled relation and secured the trunk, so that when closed it is weather and togetherjthe lid being thrown back to the stopped dust-proof. position.

A further object of thisinvention is the'incor- Referring now to the drawing: I 4

poration in such a trunk having a hinged" lid of The numeral 10 designates the body of a trunk '50 means requiring the addition of no extra parts of which 11 indicates the lid. The lid may be whatever, for limiting the backward movement hinged to the body of the trunk at its rear, as 'of-the lid, so that it may not be swung backwardly uponith e pin 12, to enable it to be opened by too far. 1 lifting the front edge of the lid and swinging it It will become apparent that this invention conb'alckin the conventional manner. The hinged 55 links 13, which also may be of conventional form, may be utilized to prevent the danger of unwanted closing of the lid.

The lower edge of the lid 11, along its three free sides which are not hinged to the body of the trunk, are bent inwardly and backwardly upon themselves as best shown in Figures 2 and 3, a space being left between the remainder of the lid and the bent back portions, as there shown, the lowermost part, 14, of the bent back portion presenting a slanting face. The bent back portion constitutes in its entirety a resilient bead. Along the corresponding three sides the body of the trunk is bent inwardly and then again upwardly to form the substantially horizontal ledge or shelf, 15 for reception of the bead at the bottom edge of the lid. Preventing contact of the lid and the ledge is the interposed cushioning and sealing strip 16, contoured as shown in Figures 2 and 3, and longitudinally apertured as at 17, comprising essentially a rubber tube 31 having right-angularly projecting arms 32 and 33 the former horizontal and the latter vertical. The outer surfaces of the projecting arms, which are in the form of strips of rubber, are tangential to the tube, and present substantially fiat outer surfaces disposed right angularly to each other, enabling the strip to be set in and upon the ledge in the manner shown in Figures 2 and 3, with the vertical projecting arm bearing against the inset vertical wall 35 which rises integrally from the inner extremity of the shelf15. This construction will be seen to be somewhat similar to that disclosed in my aforementioned previously issued patent, but the formation of the resilient sealing strip will be noticed to be an improvement thereover, as the aperture 1'7 permits use of a more resilient strip which is subject to greater deformation, and consequently produced a more effective seal. My preferred method of securing the strip in the ledge 15 is clearly shown in Figures 1 and 2, comprising teats, such as 18, struck out from the metal of the body of the trunk and bent down to secure the strip, as there shown.

The lower rear or hinged edge of the lid is bent inwardly as at 19, (Figures 4 and 6) for a purpose which will become apparent. The corresponding part of the body of the trunk is formed with a cooperating ledge 25, (Figures 5 and. 6), similar to the ledge 15 which is formed around the other three edges of the body, excepting that rather than being horizontal, it slopes downwardly, as shown in Figures 1, 5, and 6, to allow water to drain away and down the outside of the trunk. Secured to the lid of the trunk directly above the inbent edge 19 is a hinge comprising two elongated flaps, 20 and 21. Of these, the flap 21 is a flat strip of the kind commonlyused upon piano-type hinges and is firmly secured to the lid of the trunk in any suitable fashion, as by spot welding, while the flap 20 is of a special configuration which is best shown in cross section in Figure 4, and serves as the attaching medium for secural to the body of the trunk. The two flaps are hingedly joined in conventional fashion by the pin 12. Figure 4 shows the relative position which the hinge, lid, and associated parts, assume when the lid is closed upon the body of the trunk, and it will be seen that the formation of the flap 20 of the hinge is such that when in that position, immediately after leaving the pin it is bent away from the opposite flap 21, in the manner shown in Figure 4, producing the; sloping surface 22. It then rises vertically a spaced distance from the other flap and the lid; this vertical portion being indicated by the reference character 20, which is also the general designation of that flap of the hinge. It is then bent back upon itself and away from the other fiap as at 23, the bent back portion 23 being parallel to and spaced from the other vertical portion 20 by a distance approximately equal to or slightly less than the thickness of the metal of which the body of the trunk is formed, thereby producing the elongated slot 26.

The extremity of the flap 20 of the hinge is thus formed as an elongated and downwardly opening clip, which, as it is slightly shorter than the inside of the back of the trunk, may be secured to the top thereof by forcing it over the upstanding edge 24, (Figures 5 and 6). Figures 4 and 5 show these parts in detail section, before assembly, and in proper positional relation, so that if Figure 4 were moved downwardly upon Figure 5 in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 4, the straight upstanding edge 24 of the back of the trunk might be forced into the slot 26, to be frictionally held by the resilient parallel sides 20-23. Figure 6 shows the assembly of these parts in perspective after being secured together, and after they have been adjusted to the desired position they may be firmly fixed therein by striking or partially punching out the metal as shown at 27. seen that it is a simple matter to adjust the relative position in which the lid is secured to the trunk by merely tapping with a hammer before the punches 2'7 are made; as the clip formed by the flap 20 of the hinge may in that manner be slid in any desired direction upon the vertical edge 24 of the trunk body.

It will be seen that by the very formation of my improved hinge construction the possibility of water, dust, or other foreign matter working up through it and. into the interior of the trunk is practically eliminated; but to render the closure even more secure, and effect practically a hermetic sealing thereof, I preferably insert the resilient sealing member 30, which may be in the form of a rubber tube, between the two flaps of the hinge and running the length of the back'of the trunk. This, when the lid is closed, is compressed between the two flaps of the hinge above the butt, as shown in Figure 4, thus tightly sealing the only possible remaining ingress, asthe other three sides are sealed by the strips 16. 'The position the rubber tube 30assumes when thelid is opened is shown in Figure 6. Figure 6 also shows the additional stop which the inbent lower back edge 19"ofthe lid'furnishes, to limit the rearward movement of the lid when it is thrown back. As there shown the portion 19 engages against the sloping surface 22 of the flap 20 of the hinge when the limitzof its movement is reached.

If suitable clamping, latches 28', Figure 1, are provided to firmly draw'the lid downwardly upon the body of the trunk, compressed rubber then seals all meeting edges of the lid andbody of the trunk, the hinged as wellas the unhinged sides, acting as a gasket to. tightly seal all possible leakage spaces between the cover and the trunk. While it will be apparent that the illustrated embodiment of my invention herein disclosed is well calculated to adequately fulfill the objects and. advantages primarily stated, it is to be understood. that. the invention is susceptible to variation, modification and change within the spirit and scope of the subjo'med claims,

While assembling these parts it will be I claim: 1. In a container having a hinged lid, mean for hingedly afilxing the lid to the container and simultaneouslypreventing ingress of foreign matter into the container through the hinge, comprising a sloping ledge carried by and adjacent and substantially parallel to the top of the hinged side of the container, said ledge slanting downwardly toward the exterior of the container, a substantially vertical inset wall rising from the inner extremity of the ledge, a lid for pivotal aflixture to the container in a position in which its hinged extremity extends downwardly adjacent to and outside the inset wall, a hinge pin supported by the lid near the lower extremity of the hinged edge thereof, and a hinge plate rotatable about the pin and afiixable to the inset wall above the normal line of the pin.

2. In a container having a hinged lid, means for hingedly aflixing the lid to the container and simultaneously preventing ingress of foreign matter into the container through the hinge, comprising a sloping ledge carried by and adjacent and substantially parallel to the top of the hinged side of the container, said ledge slanting downwardly toward the exterior of the container, a substantially vertical inset wall rising from the inner extremity of the ledge, a lid for pivotal afiixture to the container in a position in which its hinged extremity extends downwardly adjacent to and outside the inset wall, a hinge pin supported by the lid near the lower extremity of the hinged edge thereof, a hinge plate rotatable about the pin and aflixable to the inset wall above the normal line of the pin, and an elongated resilient member positioned between the pintle and the interior of the container, and compressible upon closure of the lid.

3. In a container having a hinged lid, abody portion having an inset upper wall forming a ledge near its stop, an elongated hinge having a pintle extending along one side of the container andv arranged near the bottom of said inset wall and directly above the ledge, the lid having a portion extending down over the ledge along side but spaced from the inset wall and in alignment with the body portion below the ledge, the hinge having one fiap secured to said lid portion and another to the body portion, and an elongated resilient sealing member located above the hinge pintle and between said inset wall and downwardly projecting lid portion and compressible upon closing the lid.

4. In combination with a metallic container having upstanding walls and an open top, a cover for the open top formed to extend over and part way down outside said walls, and means for hingedly affixing the cover to the container and simultaneously preventing ingress of foreign matter into the container at the hinged edge, comprising a hinge plate carried by the cover, an-

other hinge plate afiixed to the outside of one of said walls of the container with its butt edge below the top thereof, a hinge pin pivotally connecting said hinge plates along a line spaced below the top of said wall, and resilient sealing means arranged between the plates and compressible thereby upon closing of the cover.

5. In combination with a container having upright walls and an open top, a lid hinged to the outside of one of said walls below the top of the wall and arranged to close said open top and having a portion partially overlapping the wall on the hinged side, a hinge pivotally securing the lid to the container on said side and comprising flaps secured to the overlapping portions of the lid and body, a pintle connecting the flaps and spaced below the top of the wall, and means for sealing the hinged edge comprising an elongated resilient member positioned between the flap secured to the cover and the wall and compressible between the same upon closure of the lid.

LOUIS M. LA DUKE. 

